An Announcement & Project ft. Memory Box w/Drop Nativity, Gilded Drop, & Hanging Lantern Frame

I am very excited to announce that I was approached early in September by Laura Fulcher, Design Team Coordinator for Memory Box, and asked to join the Memory Box Design Team.  I think this is a fantastic fit for my style and so I accepted.  This is my first post as part of the Team.

First, I want to share a little about Memory Box with you.  Did you know that Memory Box has a monthly challenge you can participate in?  I did not know this until I was looking at their blog where I will be posting and noticed a Challenge Category.  The challenge is posted on the first of every month.

Additionally, the blog, "Outside the Box" has a French and Spanish version if you look on the right-hand sidebar, you will find the links there.  I hadn't realized that Memory Box had a blog.  I still enjoy blogging and I try to include as much information as I can for you.  I know it's much quicker to look at a photo on Instagram, but you just can't put much information there for folks who want to recreate the look you've achieved. So I will be adding the information in both places for you.  Here on my blog, I will be providing Affiliate Links for you in case you'd like to purchase the supplies I've used.

While I was waiting for my supplies to arrive from Memory Box, I pulled the dies that I already had and created a couple of projects to share with you.  This card features a couple of new products from their most recent release.  I decided to include this card because I actually remembered to take a few process photos for you.  That will take a few times for me to remember!

I started by selecting the dies I wanted to use for this card.  I love the simple Nativity image from Drop Nativity and wanted to pair it up with the Gilded Drop.  I also knew I wanted to use a frame, so I chose the Hanging Lantern Frame from a previous release because it would provide me with the opportunity to use some jewels on my card which, if you've been here before, you know I love.

It was important to figure out first, which color would go in which order.  It's the same principle as masking if it helps you to think of it that way.  What do you want to be the very front image.  I started by cutting a white cardstock Drop Nativity and one in Gold.  Next, I cut the Hanging Lantern Frame from some Stardream Lagoon Shimmer Cardstock.  I also cut the Gilded Drop from Gold Cardstock.

Using a Blending Brush, I ink blended Hawaiian Shores Ink over the background of the die-cut.  Except for the blue background, this is basically serving as my base layer to attach all the other layers to.  I used my Nuvo Shimmer Pen to add sparkle to the background. Once that dried, I started assembling my card.  I added the gold gilded drop directly to the whole diecut using Ranger Multi Medium Matte.  Next, I put the gold die-cut Drop Nativity on top of that and set it face down on my glass mat so that I could stack a few acrylic blocks on the top.

Once I had all the layers adhered for the focal point, I made a cardbase from Cougar Super Smooth Digital White Cardstock and added the frame from the Hanging Lantern Die to the card.

Using foam tape I added the assembled Drop Nativity to the center of my frame.  I stamped the "Merry Christmas" Sentiment in Versamark and heat embossed it on a leftover piece of the Stardream Lagoon.  This happened to be the stamp that was already in my MISTI since I was waiting for my products to arrive.  I now have Memory Box Stamps to choose from for my sentiments, so you'll see those used in the future.

I added my favorite jewels to the Cross, the corners and to the sentiment strip and let them dry.  That finished off my card.  I think this is a beautiful, timeless design that will work for anyone who celebrates Christmas.  The foam tape really lets the focal point pop off the card. The shimmer on the blue background is really visible in the picture as well.

For my other project, I used Shimmer Gold Cardstock, Gold Foiled Cardstock, and Red Satin Cardstock with Hanging Lantern Frame Die and Ruffled Poinsettia Die. I did not remember to take process photos but I think you'll figure it out.

Lots of people ask me about all the gold foiled cardstock I use and I get it from different places.  Because I don't want to be limited in how much I use, I typically get it from Amazon.  This is the brand I usually purchase and they have other colors as well.  I am not an affiliate for Amazon.

Instead of jewels, I used pearls as accents on my card.  I love the Glossy Pearls from Little Things from Lucy's Cards and use Glossy Porcelain or Glossy Eggshell.

I've linked the supplies I've used listed below for your convenience.  If there's a Memory Box die that you want, but your store doesn't carry it, be sure to ask them for it!

Compensated Affiliate Links used whenever possible at no additional cost to you!

Kokuyo Long Dot Adhesive Shop at: SSS	Little Things from Lucy's - Glossy Eggshell Mix Shop at: SSS	Little Things from Lucy's - Glossy Porcelain Mix Shop at: SSS	Marvy Jewel Picker Shop at: SSS
Memory Box - Drop Nativity Die Shop at: SSS | MB	Memory Box - Gilded Drop Die Shop at: SSS | MB	Memory Box - Hanging Lantern Frame Dies Shop at: SSS | MB	Memory Box - Ruffled Poinsettia Dies Shop at: SSS | MB
MSP Original MISTI Stamping Tool Shop at: SSS	PaperPapers.com - Cougar Super Smooth Digital White - #110, 200 pack Shop at: PPC	PaperPapers.com - Shine Red Satin Shop at: PPC	PaperPapers.com - Stardream Fine Gold Shop at: PPC
PaperPapers.com - Stardream Lagoon Shop at: PPC	Ranger Multi Medium Matte Shop at: SSS	Scor-Pal Scoring Board Shop at: SSS	Scotch 3M Foam Tape Shop at: SSS
SSS Antique Gold Embossing Powder Shop at: SSS	Teflon Bone Folder Shop at: SSS	Tonic 6 Inch Personal Trimmer Shop at: SSS	Tonic Aqua Shimmer Pen Shop at: SSS
Versamark Ink Shop at: SSS	Wagner Heat Tool Shop at: SSS	WPLUS9 Gift Card Layers Designer Dies Shop at: SSS

Keeping Christmas - September 2019 Edition

Hello there!  Welcome to this month's edition of Keeping Christmas!  There are several stops along the hop today and you should have started at Kelly Lunceford's Blog.  I'll have the full list of blog links for you below.

In case you haven't been here before, the Keeping Christmas Hop was developed to give you ideas, tips, and tricks to make a few cards each month so that when December1st comes around, you are ready to mail your holiday cards to family and friends.

Way back in April, I created a single card for the Keeping Christmas Hop as time was short for me because of the number of grandkids, nieces, and nephews who were graduating in May or had a significant birthday that month.  I also created an unusual sized card that month and I really loved the look.

Around that same time, I saw a die used on a card that was similar in size and shape.  After a little investigating, I purchased a set of dies for creating this size and shape of card that I just loved, so I splurged and got them from somewhere in Europe.  It took a couple of weeks for the dies to arrive and they had been sitting on my desk since around the middle of July.  I finally got them out and used them.  The card builder panel dies are from Paper Discovery, but as far as I know, they are not available in the US.  They are available at a store called Craft Stash if you want to check them out.  Keep in mind, that this does not make a standard A2 or A7 Card so I also purchased special #8 sized envelopes for mailing.   

The main thing I liked about this set was the insert panel and the card that was not a typical size.  I like this particular insert so much that I have not tried any of the other ones yet. There are inserts for diagonal stripes, tall stripes, short stripes, and even plaid.  There are also dies to cut the paper in the exact size to make the card, but since I use high-quality cardstock, I find it easier to cut my own in a 7 x 8 size, scoring it at 3.5 inches. This makes a card that is 3.5 by 8 inches and is different from most of the A2 sized cards that I usually make.  I use the extra piece of cardstock for the other elements on the card as you will see shortly.  This is really the only information that you need to know in order to recreate this card.  I searched for them on Amazon, but they are not available.  I can find plenty of items right here in the US but this set of dies was different than anything I had seen.

This particular color combination is one of my favorites and pairs Pinefeather Cardstock with Tropical Teal Cardstock from Papertrey Ink.  The shadow layer for the word die is cut from Stampers Select Vellum, also from Papertrey.  I haven't decided if I'm going to add "In The Magic of Christmas" to the word die or not so I tried to leave room to add that on most of these cards.

If you have a large supply of cardstock scraps like I do, this was a great way to get some use out of them.  As you'll soon see from my images, I made several variations of this same card.    I still have plenty of cardstock scraps left to make many more.  I usually make about 3 or 4 at the same time and add them to my growing stack of holiday cards and tags.

You could make these cards in any number of color combinations, adding touches of metallics, shimmer cardstock, or other specialty papers.  Since I plan to make all of my personal cards in this size this year, I went ahead and ordered a package of #8 envelopes to mail them in as well.  That is not a standard size, so be prepared to have some difficulty finding them if you choose to do that.  I didn't think that part through beforehand, so I want you to know going in, that they may be hard to find.

My daughter loves blue with silver and white at Christmas so of course, I used that combination a couple of times.  

This card uses shimmer cardstock from PaperPapers.com in Electic Blue, and Iceberg with Silver Cardstock for the insert.  

This card uses Pinefeather with Scarlet Jewel Cardstock, from Papertrey Ink/Ink to Paper.

This card uses Lovely Lady, Pinefeather, and Ocean Tides with gold metallic cardstock.  

Here I used Pure Poppy with Pinefeather and some New Leaf Ink Blending on Linen Cardstock.  I love the texture these leaves and poinsettias have on them.  

This card uses Vintage Jadeite with Pure Poppy.  

This card uses Vintage Jadeite with Hawaiian Shores, Autumn Rose and Ocean Tides for the leaves. 

Another personal favorite combination is Hawaiian Shores with Lovely Lady, Autumn Rose, and the same New Leaf Ink Blended Linen Texture cardstock from Papertrey Ink.  

Here we have Ocean Tides with Scarlet Jewel Cardstock.  

This card uses Pinefeather Cardstock with Red Satin Shimmer Cardstock from PaperPapers.com.  

As always, you can also use white card bases by making your own.  I usually prefer a white card base, but on this particular style of card, I prefer them on the colored cardstock.  If any of the cardstock is a dark color, I just pop a white insert inside for my note.  So far, I have 12 of these cards made, but it's time to move on to other designs and spread the love among my supplies. 

Don't forget to check out all the stop along the hop and leave each of the ladies some love.  

Kelly Lunceford

Anita Madden

Claire Broadwater

Julee Tilman

Kim Heggins

Lori Tecler

Nance Salkeld

Nina Forsyth

Vicki Finger (You are Here)

Nancy Guse

Thanks for stopping by today!  Only two more months of Keeping Christmas ideas for this year and then it will be time to mail out your cards.  Christmas is just 90 days away.  Wow, that year flew by, didn't it?  

Poppy Stamps Challenge #60 - Anything Goes

I'm excited to bring you two cards today featuring Poppy Stamps Dies!  I just found this challenge over the weekend.  Since Memory Box has a challenge, I looked for one for Poppy Stamps and sure enough, there is a challenge on that blog as well.  My friend Jeanne Jachna is the Design Team Coordinator there, but I had no idea there was a monthly challenge at their blog. I don't always have a lot of time to participate in Challenges, but I do enjoy it when I do have the time.

This month, the challenge is Anything Goes.  I don't have very many stamps or dies from Poppy Stamps, but I had recently purchased some dies from their most recent holiday release. I love both of these dies and I planned to use them together if I could.  I am really happy that it worked out!

Both of my cards use Holly Vine Frame (which also happens to come with a stencil) and Festive Noel.  I'll link these products below for you.

To begin, I die cut the Holly Vine Frame from Fairway Shimmer Metallic Cardstock.  I chose this color because I wanted to pair it up with some pinker hues as opposed to red hues.  I made a top folding 5.5 x 4.25-inch tall card base from Cougar Super Smooth Digital White #110 Cardstock.  This is my favorite white cardstock for many things.  Today, it just happened that I had a couple of half sheets on my desk, so I rolled with it.

I also used a previously made (months ago) Watercolor Brushstroke Background panel that used Pink and Gold Watercolor.  I cut it slightly smaller than the fame to fit behind.  If you look closely, you can see that in this case, the brushstrokes run vertically.

Next, I cut the Festive Noel Die from the same white cardstock and separated the letters from the rest of the piece.  I wanted to watercolor the letters with some of the same pink and gold watercolors that I used before.  I do this by putting a drop of reinker into my little watercolor dish with a bit of water and putting a layer of color over it.  Once that is done, I add a bit of Gold Watercolor to the mix and a bit more water, then go over it again.    This also makes the letters shimmery. While the letters were drying, I wanted to add a bit of color to the leafy branches part of the die cut using the same method.

Once everything was dry, I inlaid the Noel letters back into the die-cut using tiny bits of masking tape on the back to hold everything in place.  Next, I applied Foam Tape to the backside of that to pop it up a bit from the background.  Once I had the card assembled, I carefully added Nuvo Glitter Drops in Sherbet Shimmer where the bigger berries are and some Nuvo Glossy Red Berry drops to the tiny little berries on the frame die-cut.

I also wanted to try this with a bit of Glitter Cardstock inlay for the letters and of course some gold foiled cardstock.  I used Limited Edition Nuvo Glitter Drops in Winter Cranberry on the Festive Noel Berries.

I love both of these dies!  I feel they are super versatile but it was Dave Brethauer's Watercolor Napkin Diecuts that were the inspiration for the first card. He has a video on the Memory Box YouTube Channel HERE.

I hope you enjoy these cards!  I have a few more to add to my stash for gift giving at Christmas!

Compensated Affiliate Links used whenever possible at no additional cost to you!

PaperPapers.com - Cougar Super Smooth Digital White - #110, 200 pack Shop at: PPC	PaperPapers.com Shine Blue Satin Shop at: PPC	PaperPapers.com Shine Moss Green Shop at: PPC	Poppy Stamps Festive Noel Shop at: SSS
Poppy Stamps Holly Vine Frame and Stencil Shop at: SSS	Teflon Bone Folder Shop at: SSS	Tonic 6 Inch Personal Trimmer Shop at: SSS	Tonic Nuvo Crystal Drops Red Berry Shop at: SSS
Tonic Nuvo Glitter Accents - Winter Cranberry (Limited Edition) Shop at: SSS	Tonic Nuvo Glitter Drops Sherbert Shimmer Shop at: SSS